Synopsis

Betrothed since childhood to the prince of Mynaria, Princess Dennaleia has always known what her future holds. Her marriage will seal the alliance between Mynaria and her homeland, protecting her people from other hostile lands. But Denna has a secret. She possesses an Affinity for fire—a dangerous gift for the future queen of a kingdom where magic is forbidden.

Now, Denna must learn the ways of her new home while trying to hide her growing magic. To make matters worse, she must learn to ride Mynaria’s formidable warhorses—and her teacher is the person who intimidates her most, the prickly and unconventional Princess Amaranthine—called Mare—the sister of her betrothed.

When a shocking assassination leaves the kingdom reeling, Mare and Denna reluctantly join forces to search for the culprit. As the two become closer, Mare is surprised by Denna’s intelligence and bravery, while Denna is drawn to Mare’s independent streak. And soon their friendship is threatening to blossom into something more.

But with dangerous conflict brewing that makes the alliance more important than ever, acting on their feelings could be deadly. Forced to choose between their duty and their hearts, Mare and Denna must find a way to save their kingdoms—and each other. (Goodreads)

Review

My rating: 4 starsIt was lovely. Definitely recommend.

First things first, when I opened up my box (from a now defunct subscription box company), this cover astounded me. It is so incredibly gorgeous!

And this synopsis… I was super excited to read this book — it sounded so good! — and then, somehow, it ended up on my shelf and kept getting pushed down my TBR as other books arrived from the library or the bookstore. I’m mad at myself for waiting so long to read it.

My initial review on Goodreads read: I really liked it! The intrigue, the romance, the magic – all well done.

I have not changed my mind.

This book is exactly what I look for in a YA Fantasy. It has really neat fantasy elements (an interesting magical system, thought-out cultures and political systems), diverse characters, who are also interesting and multi-dimensional characters, relationships (and romances) that develop over time, interesting plot and subplots, an intriguing mystery, lots of action, twists and turns that surprised me, and humour.

Mare and Denna are really interesting characters and Coulthurst does a wonderful job of slowly revealing bits about their personalities, hopes, dreams, and histories throughout the book. I very much enjoyed watching their friendship develop and witnessing them start to realize how their assumptions about each other and others were just maybe incorrect or a little rash.

The mystery of who the assassin or assassins are and why they are killing immediately hooked me too. On top of really caring for Denna and her situation coming to Mynaria to marry the prince she’s never met, my emotions went into overdrive trying to figure out why this other character that I was really interested in was suddenly killed, and how they were killed.

All in all – go read this book. It is on my to-re-read list already. It’s definitely worth your time.